Lebanon High School; in his senior year the team won the Class AAA state title.

At Mount Lebanon, he regularly alternated between the two middle infield positions with Josh Wilson, another future Major League player.

[2] Kelly got off to a strong start: by mid-June his .363 average led the Florida State League and the local Ledger described him as a "slugger.

Commented Mud Hens manager Larry Parrish: "Hitting-wise, there's been a little bit of an adjustment for him here...He tore up Double-A, and here he's done alright.

At Erie his numbers improved to .272, but at the end of the season Detroit removed Kelly from their 40-man roster, making him a free agent.

As a pinch hitter for Dámaso Marte, Kelly popped out to the shortstop to end the Pirates half of the ninth inning.

[15] Kelly played sparingly, amassing 27 at-bats over 25 games and hitting .148, before Pittsburgh designated him for assignment on June 12 to make room for Dan Kolb.

[2] He was called on to pitch with two outs in the top of the ninth inning after manager Jim Leyland thoroughly depleted his bullpen in a 16–9 defeat to the New York Mets at Comerica Park on June 29, 2011.

[22] He reached the milestone of having played every position on the field in his major league career in a 15–3 loss at home to the San Francisco Giants three nights later on July 2.

Detroit went on to win the game, 3–2, and moved on to face the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series.

[24] On August 3, 2012, Kelly was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for outfielder Andy Dirks, who returned to the Tigers after coming off the disabled list the same day.

[26] The Tigers called him up again on September 1,[27] and later named him to their post-season roster after the team clinched the AL Central division.

He hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in Game 2 of Detroit's American League Division Series against the Oakland Athletics.

[32] After hitting .270 with two doubles and five RBI with .681 OPS in Spring training, the Marlins purchased Kelly's contract and placed him on the Opening Roster.

[37] In February 2017, Kelly was named a scout and assistant on the player development staff for the Detroit Tigers organization.

[41] Kelly spends his offseasons in Mars, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Carrie, and their three sons, Brett, Luke and Brooks.

[13][42] His wife Carrie was a women’s basketball player at Wagner College and the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year in 2001.